Biggest shopping centre in the Highlands for sale at £18.5m

The Eastgate Shopping Centre in Inverness being put up for sale with a guide price of £18.5m.

Estate agent Knight Frank has confirmed it has been appointed to market the centre for sale.

It represents a significant price drop compared with what it fetched more than a decade ago.

Harbert Fund Management and Scoop Asset Management bought it in 2015 for £116m through a joint venture.

Retail experts said the big reduction in the value of the Eastgate reflected a wider repricing of traditional retail property in the face of challenges from online shopping and the loss of big department stores.

Prof Cathy Parker from Manchester Metropolitan University sits on the UK Government's high streets taskforce.

She said the key question was not how to restore the Eastgate to its previous retail model - but whether a new owner could work with the council, businesses and community to give it a viable new role.

The centre first opened in 1983 changing the shopping experience in Inverness and the Highlands, and two decades later a major extension was built at Falcon Square.

However, it suffered a blow during the Covid pandemic when anchor store Debenhams closed.

The owners said the Eastgate was "an attractive opportunity for investors" and that it was business as usual while the sale process was under way.